Daily
news - 18th October 2018

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consultation took place between Public Health England and its independent expert advisors on the Alcohol Leadership Board prior to its decision to enter into a partnership with Drinkaware | They work for you, UK

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release, Public Health England and Drinkaware launch Drink Free Days, published on 10 September 2018, for what reason the decision was taken by Public Health England not to state clearly that Drinkaware is funded by the alcohol industry | They work for you, UK

Last night saw the launch of the Alcohol Charter published by the Drugs, Alcohol & Justice Cross-Party Parliamentary Group and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Harm. It calls on the Government to introduce evidence-based measures to reduce the damage caused by alcohol to both individuals and communities | Collective Voice, UK

New figures released today show that nearly half (49%) of North Easterners support increasing alcohol taxes if the money raised went into funding public services impacted by alcohol use, such as the NHS and police | Balance North East, UK

Update of a key document forming the basis of claims that brief interventions work in ‘real-world’ settings. Combined findings from randomised trials confirm that brief advice in primary care can reduce drinking; now the issue is whether in normal practice those benefits will be realised on a grand enough scale to create public health gains | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

The Irish Public Health (Alcohol) Bill, signed into law today (Wed 17 Oct) by Ireland’s President, Michael D Higgins, presents a set of measures to prevent alcohol related harm, which follow latest evidence base in the field of alcohol policy and recommendations of the World Health Organization | Alcohol Action Ireland, Ireland

More than 9 000 lives were reported to be lost to drug overdoses in Europe (28 EU Member States, Turkey and Norway) in 2016, the latest reporting year, and this is an underestimate. Reducing drug-related deaths therefore remains a major challenge for public health policy | EMCDDA, Portugal

This review examines evidence for the effectiveness of cannabinoids in chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) and addresses gaps in the literature by: considering differences in outcomes based on cannabinoid type and specific CNCP condition; including all study designs; and following IMMPACT guidelines. MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched in July 2017 | PAIN, USA

Fresh from completing his medical residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1964, Dr. Herbert Kleber fulfilled his military obligation by volunteering for the United States Public Health Service. He expected to do research at the National Institutes of Health. But to his dismay he was assigned instead to the Public Health Service Prison Hospital at Lexington, Ky | NYTimes, USA

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's administration announced legislation that would expedite the pardon process for individuals with previous convictions on marijuana possession after the drug was legalized in the country Wednesday | The Hill, USA

My 29-year-old son Daniel was an occasional user of recreational drugs. He died of an overdose two years ago. Like many thousands of others, the drugs he took were illegally produced and supplied and his usage was entirely unsupervised and without any medical advice | Politics.co.uk, UK

With similar moves towards liberalisation in some US states, Uruguay, Portugal and the Netherlands, there is a sense that momentum is moving away from treating cannabis as law enforcement issue, and towards its control and regulation for adult use in a sensible way | Independent editorial, UK

In one developed country, the government has found a way to legislate for recreational use of cannabis. In another an extremely sick child must be made to produce evidence of life-threatening symptoms before it can be prescribed for medicinal purposes | Independent voices, UK

Cannabis is not the devil’s weed. Nor is it a magic elixir. Come Wednesday, the country will not go mad as stoners take over the streets, nor will we achieve doobie-inspired world peace and universal love | Globe and Mail opinion, Canada

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